文化旅游相关概念辨析

文化旅游已成为当今旅游业的一个发展趋势,游人对此趋之若鹜,专家、学者们也对文化旅游的研究多有著述。但不同的学者从不同的角度对文化旅游的概念有不同的理解与定义,这无疑不利于文化旅游的发展与研究。在分析文化与旅游、旅游文化、旅游者与文化旅游者、文化资源、文化旅游资源、文化旅游产品、文化旅游环境等相关概念的基础上,提出了自己的认识,认为文化旅游是指旅游者主要以消费文化旅游产品,体验与享受旅游活动中的文化内涵,从而获得身心愉悦的一种旅游活动。     

基于科学发展观的河南区域城镇化水平研究

在科学发展观的指导下,按照以人为本、全面、协调、可持续的原则,构建河南省城镇化水平的评价指标体系;收集、整理城镇化水平评价数据,运用主成分分析法和聚类分析法对河南省城镇化水平进行评价;提出城镇化发展的方向和对策。     

东南沿海快速城市化地区农村居民点扩展驱动力分析——以福建省晋江市为例

利用1995-2005年土地利用变更资料和相应的社会经济统计资料,采用因子分析法对晋江市农村居民点扩展驱动机制进行分析,结果表明,10年来,晋江市农村居民点扩展变化过程中,起决定性作用的因素主要是区域经济发展水平、农村工业化进程、社会文化因素和国家政策制度等。     

辽宁省水资源承载力分析

在假定条件下,运用主成分分析法,分析了影响辽宁省水资源承栽力变化的最主要驱动因子,提出辽宁水资源存在的问题和提高水资源承载力的方法。     

But are they Meritorious? Genetic Productivity Gains under Plant Intellectual Property Rights

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) on the productive merit/yield increases of US seed varieties. As an example, we use wheat varieties, which are and have been available as both protected and unprotected under PVP from both the public and private sectors. We find evidence that PVP has contributed to the genetic improvement of wheat, using varietal trial data from Washington State. As the private open‐pollinated varieties exist only because of PVP and are higher yielding, these results indicate a clear public benefit from PVP.     

A Comment on Weak Disposability in Nonparametric Production Analysis

In his 2005 paper in this journal, Kuosmanen argues that Shephard's specification of weak disposability in activity analysis (DEA) models is not correct. We show that Shephard's specification does satisfy weak disposability and is the "smallest" technology to do so.     

Tracking urban sprawl: Using spatial data to inform farmland preservation policy

The development of state farmland preservation policies has primarily relied upon results of the Census of Agriculture that is updated every 5 years by the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service. Questions about the suitability of the Census of Agriculture center on the measures of total farmland and total cropland as reported by agricultural producers. The reliance on these variables fails to distinguish between conversion to developed uses and other fluctuations in the total availability of farmland. This inability to directly measure farmland conversion to developed uses has been shown to influence state level farmland preservation policies. The policies of Illinois and Indiana highlight the disparate approaches, with Illinois pursuing an intensive policy to protect farmland and Indiana choosing to not address farmland preservation at a state level. In order to assess the suitability of the different approaches to farmland preservation policy it is critical to evaluate the Census of Agriculture data used to justify the policies of Illinois and Indiana.     

Food Aid, Food Prices, and Producer Disincentives in Ethiopia

Although the short-term aims of food aid are well conceived, strong concerns have been voiced regarding the long-term impacts of such aid on incentives for agricultural producers in recipient countries. This article examines the statistical link between food aid shipments and food prices in Ethiopia over the period 1996–2006. Monthly data from three markets and three commodities are used to estimate a system of seemingly unrelated regression models for food prices. Results indicate that previous year food aid shipments reduce prices in all producer and consumer markets. These effects, however, appear to be limited to the set of internationally traded commodities that are domestically marketed. A recursive regression procedure is used to identify the food aid threshold at which a negative aid effect emerges. Food aid shipments that constitute less than 10% of domestic production appear to be benign, but shipments above this level show signs of being disruptive to local markets. We use a simple policy simulation to argue that production-sensitive targeting, e.g., conditioning food aid on local food production, would help to circumvent disincentive effects.     

A contribution to the assessment of scenic quality of landscapes based on preferences expressed by the public

The purpose of this paper is to validate a model for predicting the public's preference for a landscape using simple statistical techniques. The model assigns numerical values to 42 landscape variables grouped into physical, aesthetic and psychological attributes. The landscape value is obtained using an additive value function. The results of the model on certain landscapes are compared with the preference expressed by the public in a survey of 183 people.The homogeneity of the survey responses was checked in each photograph. It was determined that means and standard deviations of the scores represent the true preference.A strong positive association was observed between preference and certain landscape attributes such as expression, soil use or colour. A marked negative association was detected with respect to landscape alterations.A linear regression was carried out to analyse the predictive capacity of the model. The independent variable was the global score assigned by the model to each photograph and the dependant variable was the mean of the scores assigned by the survey respondents. The high level of correlation obtained indicates that the model is a good predictor of the public's preferences in relation to the set of photographs shown in the survey.To complete the analysis of the model as a preference predictor, a multiple linear regression was carried out between the mean score obtained in the survey and the model elements. Attributes and variables that have the greatest influence on pubic preference were detected.     

An integrated approach for ex-ante evaluation of public policies for sustainable agriculture at landscape level

An integrated methodological framework for ex-ante evaluation and planning of public policies for sustainable agriculture at agro-landscape level is proposed. The components of the framework are to: (1) determine the private, i.e. farmers’, and public benefits associated to agro-landscapes, consisting of an agricultural land-use system, according to its performance for several market and non-market functions. Market forces determine the market benefits and preferences of society the non-market benefits; (2) explore and select potential sustainable agro-landscapes based on the private and public benefits associated with possible land-use alternatives; (3) define efficient public policy mechanisms for improving social net benefit of agro-landscapes.The framework is illustrated with a case study in a small dairy farming dominated agro-landscape in The Netherlands, with gross margin, landscape quality, nature value and environmental health as the analysed ecosystem functions. Alternative landscapes consisting of hedgerow configurations and grassland management practices were explored, yielding a set of alternatives representing the solution space in terms of change in private and public benefits. Policy mechanisms were defined to move from the current to a desired landscape based on changes in social net benefits. Moreover, the necessity of a modification in the current agri-environmental support was analysed for each landscape. The analysis considered all farmers in the agro-landscape jointly. The results for the case study showed potential prototypes of landscapes and their performance compared to the current landscape. Extension was the most efficient policy mechanism to promote the change to the socially optimum landscape alternative.